Peoria police find shooting victim en route to hospital

PEORIA — Peoria police intercepted an apparent shooting victim on his way to the hospital early Friday morning.

An officer was driving southbound on Western Avenue at 1:20 a.m. Friday when he noticed a northbound vehicle driving without headlights illuminated. When the patrol car passed the vehicle, the driver honked the horn repeatedly and pulled over in the 1800 block of South Ann Street.

There, he told the officer he had been shot and needed help, according to a Peoria police report on the incident.

He told the officer he had been in his car on West Garden Street near Madison Park Terrace with two females when an SUV pulled up.

A suspect then fired a handgun, hitting the victim in the upper thigh. After he was shot, the victim fled the scene in his vehicle and encountered the officer a short time later.

Police did not immediately identify any suspect in the crime. The victim's condition was not available Friday afternoon.